By Brenda Odhiambo

On Wednesday, October 4, 2023, the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program e-Learning Initiative at USIU-Africa hosted its first ever Online content development in preparation for the development of 15 fully-online Programs that will be launched by the university.

The three-day workshop brought together faculty and staff members from various schools and departments, including the e-Learning Project, the School of Communication, Cinematic and Creative Arts, the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, General Education, USIU-Africa Online and Quality Assurance.

In her remarks, the Director, Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program e-Learning Initiative at USIU-Africa, Ms. Everlyn Anyal noted that the e-Learning Initiative was an opportunity for the University to be pioneers in the provision of online learning both regionally and globally.

“The launch of these programs will make USIU-Africa a pioneer in the provision of online programs, and pave the way for the university to offer a truly global and world-class education accessible by all,” she said.

“Through the development and launch of 15 high quality and inclusive online programs, the eLearning Initiative will make USIU-Africa’s quality higher education accessible to more learners especially those who face additional barriers in accessing education,” she added.

In his remarks, Dr. Philip Machoka, the Director, USIU-Africa Online noted that the workshop’s focus was to formally embark on the process of developing online course content for Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology, Master of Arts in Communication Studies and General Education (GE) courses.

“USIU-Africa has invested in scaling its internal expertise in eLearning by providing various certifications to faculty through various trainings. These include Masterclass for teaching online, faculty development programs and Quality Matters (QM) track, which ensure that we have the relevant skills to develop and facilitate the delivery of these online programs,” he added.

He also noted that the launch of the Online MBA positioned USIU-Africa as an industry leader in the regional higher education sector, stating that the university had hosted several institutions looking to develop online programs to benchmarking sessions.

The three-day workshop will culminate in the development of a Detailed Design Document which will guide the development and population of content on the Learning Management System (LMS).